Shopping – by Gary Smolker

The Shopping Experience

Many men who like to shop do not want to or like to shop with a woman.

Each of the photographs above were taken by me in June, 2017, while I was in different shopping venues.

The purses shown above were photographed by me while I was in the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California, USA.

The eatable chocolate shoes shown above were photographed by me while I was in an Alitalia terminal in the Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome, Italy.

The bottom set of pictures are photographs I took near the Merry-Go-Round in the South Coast Plaza.

The set of photographs are of a “carrel” full of “animal shaped balloons.”

Parents purchase those animal shaped balloons for their children to “walk” and/or play with while their parents are shopping.

Useful Practical Knowledge

If you need to buy something, a very important question is: “Where is the best place to buy it, where is the best place to shop for it.”

Of course, the answer to that question depends upon what you are shopping for.

Where Is The Best Place in the World to Shop?

MEN, TAKE NOTE: WOMEN LIKE TO SHOP!

Women have a larger variety – a multitude – of good reasons to shop and to go shopping then men do.

In the modern world we live in, sometimes shopping is not solely/exclusively about trading money for goods.

My goal in writing this article is to spread understanding of the multitude of factors that women and men consider before they decide where to “go shopping” when their sole goal is not to buy a “generic” something for the best price.

MEN:

It is a good idea to get along with women.

If you understand why women go shopping you will have a better chance of getting along with them.

Women do things for a reason.

Do not ignore something staring you right in the face.

That women like shopping is staring you right in the face.

If you make a noticeable effort to understand why women in your life like to go shopping those women will more strongly believe it is a pleasure to know you.

MY ADVICE TO MEN: Think of shopping with a woman at a gorgeous venue that has eye opening mind stimulating merchandise for sale as being equivalent to going with a date to a top rate museum full or magnificent works of art and stunning artifacts.

Best of all: You get to enter this museum and experience one or more hours of enjoyable mind expanding learning and mental stimulation without paying an admission charge.

THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD TO SHOP

The issue discussed in this article is, “Where is the best place in the world to shop?

My criteria/parameters for choosing the best place in the world to shop are:

I ask myself: (1) Where will you see the most interesting things in a span of one or two hours?

I assume you will not be spending more than one or two hours in the shopping venue that is the best place in the world to shop.

I also ask myself: (2) Which shopping venue has the highest percentage of the highest quality top-tier shops/stores/departments to go into or window shop?

In my opinion the best place in the world to shop, under those criteria, is in the terminals at the Aeroporto Leonardo Da Vicini Fiumicino… the best place to shop is in the airline terminals located in Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Rome.

I flew on Alitalia Airlines from Los Angeles International (LAX) to Rome Fiumicino (FCO) on May 20, 2017; during a stopover – before flying on to Sicily – I stayed in the Alitalia terminal which I found myself in after my plane landed for an approximately one hour thirty minute during a stopover before catching my connecting Alitalia flight to Catania Fontanarossa (CTA).

There are no direct flights from Los Angeles to Sicily. To get to Sicily by commercial plane, one must first fly to Rome then catch another flight to Sicily. Catania is a city in Sicily which has the airport I landed in when I first got to Sicily.

I was dazzled by the stores I saw as I walked through the Alitalia terminal(s) from the gate I deplaned at when I arrived in Rome from Los Angeles to the gate in the terminal from which my connecting flight to Catania Sicily boarded.

On my way back home, I flew from Rome Fiumicino (FCO) to Los Angeles International (LAX) on June 4, 2017 after a two hour forty minute stopover stay in the Alitalia terminal after my flight from Catania landed before boarding my direct Alitalia flight from Rome to Los Angeles.

During my two hour four minute stopover on June 4, 2017 I visited several of the stores/shops located in the Alitalia terminal.

Based on comparing my recent first hand (window) shopping experiences in the Leonardo da Vinci International Airport on May 20 and June 4, 2017 with my shopping experiences in other major airports throughout the world, with my shopping experiences in major shopping centers/malls, and in world famous shopping venues throughout the world, it is my conclusion that if you have one or two hours to spend shopping the Alitalia terminals in the Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Rome are the place to be.

Rolling Through My Head

Rolling through my head are memories of recent outstandingly pleasant shopping experiences, including many I had during the two weeks I was in Sicily from May 20 through June 4, 2017, and many I had while visiting the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California a few days ago.

On Monday, June 13, 2017, I spent four exceedingly pleasant hours window shopping, and also meeting with and talking to sales personnel in the South Coast Plaza (SCP) in Costa Mesa, California, and ultimately I purchased a gorgeous necklace for my daughter Judi.

Just 11 days before that, on June 2, 2017, I was shopping in the Ortigia Sicilia shop in Noto Sicily. I spent about 15 very pleasant minutes in that shop and purchased a puzzle depicting Noto [which I had the store send/ship to my daughter Terra in Massachusetts] and during that 15 minutes I also purchased oil perfume that I had shipped from the Ortigia Sicilia store to my office in Encino California to give to several women I work with.

Below is a picture I took of the Noto Puzzle I sent to my daughter Terra. Next to the picture of the Noto Puzzle I sent to my daughter are photographs of distinctive packaging used in that store – photographs of paper bags in which purchased merchandise is put in then carried out of the store. Next to the photographs of two paper bag packages are photographs of descriptive labels in the Ortigia Sicilia store which describe the perfumes displayed on shelves in that store. All the products purchased in that store can be directly taken out of the store by the purchaser or can be shipped worldwide.

I love chocolate. Modica is known as the City of Chocolate in Sicily. I spent several days in Modica. I spent about 30 minutes in a Museum of Chocolate in Modica. Below are photographs I took of posters posted in the Museum of Chocolate. Almost every other store on the main street in Modica sells a variety of chocolates. The most famous Chocolate manufacturer in Sicily is the Dolceria Bonajuto which is located on the main street in Modica Sicily at street address Corso Umberto I, N. 159, Modica. I visited the Dolceria Bonajuto on May 29, 2017 and returned on May 30 and May 31. Below are photographs I took of people outside the Dolceria Bonajuto taking samples of chocolate being served on a platter by the Bonajuto store. While in the Dolceria Bonajuto I bought Chocolate Cardamom to give to women I work with in my office in Encino, California. I spent about 10 minutes or less each time I visited the Dolceria Bonajuto. On May 29, 2017, just down the street from the Dolceria Bonajuto, at Corso Umberto I, 133, I discovered the most charming book store, Libreria Mondadori. While in the Mondadori book store I purchased two books: “Le Ricette di ieri e di oggi” [“Recipes of yesterday and today”] and “Sweet Sicily.” I love books and I love bookstores. I spent about 30 or 45 minutes in the Libreria Mondadori book store the first time I was there and about 30 minutes each of the next two times I was in that book store. Below are photographs I took while I was inside the Libreria Mondadori. The Libreria Mondadori is a great place to hang, a great place for browsing books written about many topics. I find reading books “addictive” but don’t assume that people who read books are more tolerant or open minded than people who don’t. The bottom photographs are a series of photographs I took in Libreria Mondadori. The first photograph was taken by me after I had entered Libreria Mondadori while I was looking at a staircase leading up to the second floor. The second photograph was taken by me while looking up at one side of the second floor of Libreria Mondadori. The third fourth fifth and sixth photographs were taken by me while I was on the second floor of Libreria Mondadori while looking towards the front door to Libreria Mondadori from the second floor. On the second floor of Libreria Mondadori, in addition to books to browse or purchase, there are chairs and couches for one to sit on and tables for one to work on.

The Best in the World

I am a firm believer in the value of personally seeing the best in the world of anything and of everything.

The pictures at the beginning of this article are the best in the world in different categories.

The Two Purses

Those purses are beautiful, but wrapping a stunning scarf around the handle of a purse is the work of genius.

The ladies working in the Sam Edelman store in South Coast Plaza on their own initiative chose scarves and wrapped the scarves they chose around the handles of those purses.

Eatable Chocolate Shoes

The eternal triangle is “women, chocolate and shoes.”

Whomever thought of making eatable chocolate shoes is a genius.

Animal Shaped Balloons

Children become impatient while shopping with their parents.

Whoever thought of “making” animals out of balloons that could be given to children while their parents are shopping is a genius.

Why Are the Alitalia Airline Terminals in the Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport in Rome the Best Place in the World to Shop?

Below is a photograph of a ceramic bowl and a series of photographs of a container of cookies I took while “window shopping” in an airline terminal waiting to catch a connecting flight from Rome to Los Angeles after having flown on Alitalia from Catania Sicily to Rome Italy.

Photos taken by me in the Alitalia Airline Terminal in the Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport Rome on June 4, 2017.

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About Gary S. Smolker

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY:
No enterprise can exist for itself alone. Every successful enterprise ministers to some great need, it performs some great service, not for itself, but for others. Otherwise, it ceases to be profitable and ceases to exist.
Imagination, open mindedness and flexibility are the most important factors in unlocking potential.
Those who embrace innovation, improvisation, continuous learning, time management, are action oriented, high energy, passionate, creative, purposeful and intense individuals are best equipped to succeed.
We all have ideas and the ability to make progress by sharing information and our ideas and also by changing our ideas when appropriate.
We should always be on the lookout for teaching and mentoring moments. We hold time like water in our hands; however tightly we clench our fingers, it drips away. But, if it falls on a seed, a seed may grow to become something that will have a positive social impact.
PERSONAL INTERESTS:
I have a passion to learn, to innovate, to lead, to mentor and to teach. I seek to write things worth reading and want to do things worth writing about.
I enjoy (a) driving a fast car, (b) having intense conversations (c) teaching/mentoring, (d) reading and (e) being involved in productive activity.
PERSONAL:
I believe in cultivating and backing passionate people, innovation, and old fashioned good ideas.
I love making human connections and spreading good ideas.
I am strongly motivated to achieve in situations in which independence of thought and action are called for.
PERSONAL GOALS:
I want to live life vibrantly, to be as sharp as a tack until my last breath and to change the world by being me.
My personal goal is to be fully engaged in life, to lead by example, to set high standards and to continue to amass firsthand experience and knowledge in all that interests me.
PERSONALITY:
I love fun and mischief. I relish absurdity. I have an irreverent, facetious and satiric disposition. I dread boredom. I have spent a lifetime reading. I have no bias against people who have lived successful and/or complicated lives. I write to release tension, to get things off my chest.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
I post articles on the "Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange" blog at www.garysmolker.wordpress.com, and "Dude's Guide to Women's Shoes" at www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com. I also post images and comments on Instagram @garyspassion.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Gary Smolker, Smolker Law Firm, 16055 Ventura Blvd., Ste 525, Encino, California, 91436-2609, USA. Phone 1-818-788-7290, e-mail GSmolker@aol.com.